Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. 

This statement holds true to many passionate employees, but how is this achieved?

Connie Zhou’s blog helped me investigate the concept of corporate culture among various companies, which then lead me to analyze WestJet. (side note: President & CEO Gregg Saretsky is a Sauder Graduate. That’s right.) Firstly, I found WestJet to embody the ebullient company culture similar to that of Zappos. WestJet staff are not only owners, but they are passionate about what they do whilst maintaining personal accountability.

In an interview linked bellow, it is clear that the state of employees has an inevitable impact on the destiny of the company. Essentially, the rule goes that if employees are happy, customers will be happy too. But why? It’s simple: If the same morals and values of a company are shared between its workers and directors, a positive (sometimes laid-back) atmosphere is created. Workers will want to work, projects will seem less daunting, customers will return, and in the end happiness is recycled within the company.

Overall, I could not explain better how WestJet maintains a positive corporate culture than this statement by employees: “We succeed because I care.”

WestJet and corporate culture

Gazing out my window to the approaching winter season, it seemed fair to reminisce on those warm summer days where SWOT assignments were simply SWOT charts.

Mountain Equipment Co-op, the company I analysed, keeps a community blog for its members and employees to share their experiences. Not only is this a genius way to market their brand, it also serves as a medium to encourage environmental awareness.  (Check out their blog!)

For those who’ve never heard of MEC before, they’re a company founded in Vancouver by four friends who identified the need of quality gear for “self-propelled wilderness-oriented recreation.” Not only are they a part of 1% For the Planet and The Big Wild, they also support endless human rights and environmental projects which are shared on their blog.

In order to buy their equipment, one must hold “a share” of $5. With this comes the power to elect their directors and choose their products. Amazing! This share (or vote) provides exclusive rights, affiliation with their projects, and a network through their close-knit community blog.

I find this blog to be useful because:

1) It promotes the company’s mission / successes and generates an even closer community.

2) Its members get the opportunity to share details about their outdoor adventures and to leave advice to beginners on which trails to explore.

After reading Dorfam Mirgharavi’s blog and Joyce Li’s blog, it occurred to me that despite each individual’s factors for motivation, it all leads to one idea:

We use these factors to get what we want out of life.  Is our goal to live longer, enjoy each moment, or leave a legacy?

In the big picture, whether it’s money or power that motivate us to turn that alarm off and wake up in the morning, it is helping us maximize our utility. Yes, I just said that. This is assuming that everyone wants to be happy; money (for example) can buy happiness for some people, but what this means is that money=products=happy. For others, health, love, and experience may be the reasons why they do what they do.

Here’s my logic.

Money: it allows us to buy products/services that make us happy

Power: 1) feeling significant and needed like a leader towards a common vision 2) feeling healthy and vibrant

Recognition: achieving goals in life and saying “yep I did that”

It doesn’t matter how we are motivated, but what we do with this motivation.

A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. – Jane Austen

I instantaneously picked Oprah Winfrey, the queen of all talk shows, as my entrepreneur example. From her childhood of poverty to a disturbing history of rape, Oprah has persevered and is now titled the richest African American in the 20th century. Even contributing to Obama’s campaign, Oprah is possibly the most influential woman in the world; the power of her opinion and endorsements to influence the public is known as “The Oprah Effect.”

Now, why does she fit into the entrepreneur catagory?

Although she isn’t of “high aptitude,” she certainly pioneers change and “undertakes” new projects. Oprah is currently the Chairwoman and CEO of HARPO productions as well as the Oprah Winfrey Network, making her the first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show.

Therefore I consider her to be an organization which has gained wealth from this new high demand. Within several years, the Oprah Winfrey Show has aired in 140 countries to 46 million US viewers weekly, and established the Oprah’s Angel Network which raised $11M for Hurricane Katrina along with endless philanthropic actions in Africa. Impressed yet? She has also written 5 books and runs her famous O’ Magazine. Furthermore, the creation of the Dr. Phil show and its success is due to the concept of Oprahfication (where public confessions are used as a form of therapy).

In all, I believe she idolizes the characteristics of the ideal entrepreneur. Go Oprah!